Forum for the Progress and Development of South America


The Forum for the Progress and Development of South America is an initiative proposed by the president of Chile, Sebastián Piñera, together with his Colombian counterpart, Iván Duque, for the creation of an integration body to replace the left-wing Union of South American Nations.
In the words of the Colombian president, who made the announcement on 14 January 2019, PROSUR would be "a South American coordination mechanism for public policies, in defense of democracy, the independence of powers, the economy of markets, the social agenda, with sustainability and with due application". On 18 February 2019, the president of Chile, Sebastián Piñera said "this new forum will be open to all South American countries that meet two requirements: full validity of the rule of law and full respect for freedoms and humans rights".
It has been characterised as a right-wing response to the left-wing UNASUR.

Summits

The first PROSUR Summit, called the "Meeting of Presidents of South America", took place on 22 March 2019 in Santiago, Chile. Eight South American countries taking part signed the Declaration of Santiago for the renewal and strengthening of South America, which begins the process of creating of PROSUR. The representatives of Bolivia, Suriname and Uruguay abstained from signing the declaration.